Patented Daydream Charm
by Euphoria123
Summary: Someone unexpected shows up in Hermione's daydream
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP

**Author's Note:** I tried to stay as close to the canon as possible but obviously this is AU so I made some changes.

This story has three chapters that are almost ready, I will upload them within the next few days (unless someone has mercy on me and decides to become my Beta)

Read and (hopefully) enjoy :)

_**  
The Patented**__** Daydream charm **_

Prologue

It took a lot to impress Hermione Granger. And yet there she was in Fred and George's shop and was just that impressed.

She had always thought of them as troublemakers and only good for annoying pranks and mediocre jokes.

But here and now she had to change her opinion of them, some, no actually most, well basically all of their inventions were creative and ingenious and quite extraordinary magic. The last part she had said aloud to Harry while examining a box that read _patented day dream charm._ Out of nowhere arrived Fred and told her happily that she could keep that one since she was so impressed by it.

___________________________________________________________________________

Her sixth year wasn't to her liking at all so far.

First Harry got the Potions book of this halfblood prince, a dubious character and now he beat her in every potion class. It was not that she didn't think he deserved it, but she was studying for hours in the library while he was off somewhere doing nothing. Oh well, yes she thought she deserved more to be the best and get all the praise in class.

Secondly, everything had started so well with Ron this year. She thought that she liked him in more ways than just a best friend and was pretty sure he felt the same. Heck she even went against all her principles for him and hexed McLaggen with a confundus spell.

How was she rewarded? At first he started glaring at her, completely out of the blue, when she asked Harry about it he looked very uncomfortable and just mumbled something about Viktor and kisses. What Viktor had to do with anything was beyond her, after all that was more than a year ago.

And now he had found himself a girlfriend, Lavender Brown. And they had absolutely no shame and were constantly attached to each other and eating each others faces. It was disgusting.

Harry was a dear at least most of the time when he wasn't droning on about Malfoy being a Death Eater on a mission.

School had just started two months ago and she already needed holidays, preferably far away from certain infuriating red heads, and Malfoys (Death Eaters or not).

It was only the beginning of November and the weather was as dismal as she felt. Hermione was sitting in the library in front of her a huge tome, but she couldn't concentrate for long, because she was making a pro and con Ron list in her head.

She did that a lot lately and the con list had become longer and longer she could hardly remember anymore why she fancied herself in love with him in the first place.

He was a great guy as a friend but, if she was honest with herself she knew that as a boyfriend he would simply drive her crazy.

This revelation should have made her feel better but it didn't. Wherever she went it seemed as if she was surrounded by happy couples. She saw Harry and Ginny fawning on each other and it was only a question of time when they would finally be together.

And then she the boring bookworm would be left alone. Nobody liked her that way, she was boring and plain and as Ron loved to tell her a kill joy, and she felt so utterly sorry for herself.

Since her time at the library had been completely unproductive she decided to go back to her dormitory, eat a complete chocolate bar, feel a little bit more sorry for herself and then she would try to sleep.

Luckily nobody in the common room noticed her so she was able to sneak undisturbed into the girls' dormitory.

There she got her pyjama and a chocolate bar from her trunk that was when she noticed a colourful box underneath her socks. She took it out, on the front it read _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_ and below _Patented_ _Daydream charm_. On the back was the picture of a handsome couple on a pirate ship, in the back were some dolphins playing in the water, it was sickeningly romantic.

"That's exactly what I need" the Gryffindor thought to herself, "if I don't have any romance in my real life than at least I will have some this way." That thought made her feel even more pathetic so she pushed it to the back of her mind and instead just hoped that it would

take her mind off of other things and she wasn't opposed to the idea of dreaming about being in the arms of a handsome stranger.

She got ready, closed the curtains around her bed and got comfortable, finally she spoke the incantation.

At first she started to feel warm and giddy, her eyes dropped close and all of a sudden she lay on the grass in a beautiful garden, around her were flowerbeds with all kinds of colourful flowers, most of them Hermione didn't even know, a soft warm breeze blew through her hair and she smelled the freshly mown grass. Next to her was her favourite novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Auston (because contrary to popular belief, Hermione does indulge in a good romance novel from time to time).

She noticed that she wore a white summer dress and was bare food, she lay on her belly with her head resting on her arms and her eyes closed. Everything around her was so peaceful, the wind softly swept through the leaves and some birds were chirping.

Suddenly she heard someone coming towards her, but she felt too lazy to move to see who it was. Then unexpectedly someone ran his fingers through her hair and whispered "hello love" in her ear.

That person began to run his fingers softly up and down her back. Hermione got goose bumps and felt a trillion butterflies in her stomach. Still she was too lazy to move and just made some small noises of contentment, but it seems that wasn't good enough for whoever was caressing her, because he started to tickle her mercilessly. She laughed and rolled around and found herself staring into hazel eyes that sparkled with mirth, he had freckles on his nose and bright red, slightly dishevelled hair.

Before she was able to form a coherent thought he pulled her close to him and started kissing her lips. Softly at first but then the kiss grew more passionate and he started running his tongue along her lips then he entered her mouth and started teasing the tip of her tongue.

All of a sudden he drew away and looked at her with a mischievous grin before he started kissing a trail down her jaw to her neck, while his hands explored her thighs and stomach.

Hermione ran her fingers through his hair and her other hand caressed his back while she pressed her body closer to him.

They kept kissing and caressing each other until Hermione's vision became more and more fuzzy and she opened her eyes to find herself in her bed, alone. She closed her eyes again and a small sigh escaped her lips, she could still feel Fred's hands on her body and his lips on hers.

Wait a minute. All of a sudden Hermione came back to reality. Why Fred, it should have been a handsome stranger, and how could she be sure that it was not George? But for some reason she was certain that it was Fred who had caressed her in her dream.

She felt confused, why would she dream of Fred, weren't you supposed to dream of someone that you fancied? She most certainly did not fancy Fred.

Those infuriating twins, they must have manipulated the charm so that you would dream about one of them, concluded the bushy haired brunette, after all that was just like the twins to do something like that. She could imagine how hilarious they must find it that the uptight bookworm should have a steamy daydream about one of them.

After that train of thought Hermione had worked herself up over the whole daydream issue and decided to give the twins a piece of her mind. So she set about to write a letter that would leave no doubt about how she felt about them and their blasted _Patented_ _Daydream charm._

*

_Fred and George,_

_I am sure you two had a good laugh behind my back after giving me that Patented Daydream charm. _

_How stupid of me to think that you could actually be nice, or that you maybe matured and put your minds to some good use for a change. I guess you will always be the two troublemakers who play stupid pranks on people and make fun of everybody, without considering how they might feel about it._

_And I better stop here before I start rambling._

_Hermione_

The next morning Hermione stormed, still feeling rather angry, to the owlery to send her letter before breakfast.

One Charms and one transfiguration class later at lunch, she had already calmed down considerably and started to wonder whether or not she had maybe overacted a little.

This time she was thankful that her friends were otherwise occupied (Ron alternated between stuffing food into his mouth and snogging his girlfriend, while Harry observed Malfoy junior to find some evidence for his theories) because Hermione had felt a little off all morning and didn't feel like telling anyone what was actually going on, so she was glad that they were oblivious to her inner turmoil.

After most of her anger was gone, she realised several things (thank God that they had only reading assignments this morning) first that she was angry with Fred and George because they must think that she would have the need for a daydream charm (that she indeed had it was beside the point) but they must think that her life was so uneventful in the romance department that she needed some stupid charms to spice it up a little and then they had the audacity to show up in her daydream, well one of them had.

And they surely made fun of the boring bookworm. (And yes that's a lot of insecurity coming up there)

Then a small voice piped up in her mind and told her that maybe she was a little unfair and that the two probably didn't think that and that with all the stress and emotional distress that she felt, she maybe was a little sensitive at the moment.

So then she started to think back of the daydream she had, and she remembered Fred's soft brown eyes and his huge grin and how his hands had felt on her skin, which led her down a path she most definitely didn't want to go down and she felt annoyed again.

Her musings were stopped when an owl dropped a letter in her juice. She opened it and was a little nervous what might be inside, because she was pretty sure now that she had overreacted before and felt a little embarrassed.

_  
Our dearest Hermione,_

_We don't know what we have done to induce your wrath. But whatever it is we apologize and hope to be forgiven. We most certainly wouldn't want such a powerful witch as yourself as our enemy (Yes we have heard about Ron and the birds)_

_We are sorry to hear that you weren't satisfied with our Patented Daydream charm but rest assured that we never made fun of you._

_We would like to make it up to you. Next time you set your delicate foot into our store you can choose whatever you want and it'll be on the house._

_Your most humble servants,_

_Fred and George_

"Most humble my arse", snorted Hermione. Those two buggers pretended that they had no idea why she was so upset. Hermione gave the owl a treat and told her to wait before she took out her quill and some parchment from her back.

_  
Fred and George,_

_You two are the most infuriating people I ever had the misfortune to meet. Since you pretend to not know what is wrong with your daydream charm let me enlighten you. (By the way I only used it because I was curious what you two created, it's not like I need something like that, I am happy with my love life, thank you very much). So anyway, as I was drifting in a peaceful daydream, you Fred had the audacity to show up. So clearly you two charmed the charm to make the dreamer dream of one of you. Maybe you might find that funny, but I don't. _

_And as for your offer, you can stick your products where the sun doesn't shine._

_Good day,_

_Hermione_

By dinner time Hermione felt completely exhausted and frustrated. During all of her afternoon classes she was plagued by the images of her daydream and had to use all her willpower to concentrate on her classes.

She had just started with her dessert when the owl arrived, curious as to what they might have to say in their defence she opened the letter.

_  
Dearest Hermione,_

_Well first of all your dream must have been marvellous if I was in it, so I don't understand your annoyance (and I feel insulted) and secondly the charm is designed so that you dream of someone that you fancy (I totally understand why you would fancy me, I mean I am sexy, funny, intelligent etc, etc., far more so than George for example, so don't deny it any longer). I am curious what did we do in your dream? And how did you know that it was me and not George who showed up._

_Of course we would never think that such an intelligent and beautiful witch as yourself would be in need of a daydream charm. _

_Yours forever and for always,_

_Fred_

Hermione groaned, oh no, now the git thought that she fancied him, and they still wouldn't admit to how their charm actually worked. Deciding that she had to correct his preposterous assumptions right away she scribbled an answer.

_  
Fred,_

_Still not done with making fun of me? But don't you get too full of yourself. I would know if I would fancy you and I most certainly don't, even if you were the last man on earth._

_As to what happened in my dream, I was sitting on the grass reading and then you showed up, that's it and I don't know how I knew that it was you I just did._

_Hermione_

After dinner Hermione went to the library to work on her Arithmancy essay and she even managed to forget about infuriating twins and steamy daydreams and got lost in the mystery of the numbers.

Satisfied again with herself and the world she went back to the common room. Harry was already waiting for her there with his newest findings on Malfoy. He told her that he couldn't find him on the marauder's map, that he seemed to disappear, and started speculating as to where he might go.

Hermione couldn't care less and soon her mind was invaded again by a certain red head with freckles, warm brown eyes and a mischievous smile (and that certain someone was not Ron). She sighed and hit her head as if trying to get the images out of her head. Harry looked at her in a strange way and asked if she was well. She cursed inwardly, made up a lame excuse and went to the dormitory.

There was already a fluffy little owl flying excitedly around her bed. Must be Pig's brother she thought. She got the letter and the owl collapsed on her bed. She carefully lifted him up and placed him on her pillow then she rummaged through her trunk to look for a treat for him, she only had the treats for crooks but the tiny owl didn't seem to mind and devoured hungrily what she gave him. She snuggled into her pillow and started reading.

_  
Fair Hermione,_

_How often do I have to tell you that we are not making fun of you, my dearest. So you don't fancy me, huh? The Lady doth protest too much, methinks. (Aren't you impressed with my knowledge from muggle studies?). About that dream so you were reading and I was just…there? And what are you so upset about then (no I don't think you were lying but maybe omitting some things?)._

_This is Eugene by the way, I met him today in the pet shop where I was looking for an owl for my personal mail, he crashed right into my head it was love at first sight._

_Sweet dreams princess,_

_Fred_

Hermione giggled, next to her hooted Eugene and started jumping up and down excitedly. "Well hello Eugene", Hermione crooned, "pleased to meet you". Eugene chirped happily.

"Let me just write a short answer and then you can fly back home". Quickly Hermione grabbed her quill and parchment and started writing feeling strangely giddy.

_  
My dear Fred,_

_I am deeply impressed with your knowledge on Shakespeare and glad that the entire Hogwarts education clearly was not wasted on you. But, I still believe that there is something fishy about your daydream charm and it will take time to regain the level of trust that I had in you before (which was not much to begin with). However I think I will forgive you this time._

_And about the dream, maybe I omitted something, maybe I did not you will never know, I am upset because this is a matter of principle, you weren't supposed to be there in the first place._

_Eugene is really cute, I think he likes me (do you think he is a close relative of Pigwidgeon?)_

_Sleep tight,_

_Hermione_

That night Hermione had sweet dreams in which she was kissed soundly and held tight by a strong pair of arms that belonged to a certain slightly infuriating red head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP

**Author's Note: **A big thank you to my new Beta Clover Bay

Read and (hopefully) enjoy :)

**  
The Patented Daydream Charm  
**

Hermione and Fred kept exchanging letters on a daily basis, sometimes several letters a day. Harry and Ginny were curious about the identity of this mysterious person she was writing to, but Hermione's only explanation was that she had a new pen pal now and her stern look was enough to stop them from asking more questions.

Ron, however, still acted like a complete idiot. Hermione had gotten over her little fit of jealousy and just wanted her other best friend back, but it seemed Ron had other plans.

He would make cruel jokes or comments whenever he was sure she was close enough to overhear them.

Then, one transfiguration class shortly before Christmas, she finally reached her breaking point. Yes she had laughed about his moustache, but so had everybody else. After that he had started to imitate her and ridicule her in front of the entire class.

As soon as the class was over she ran away, she just wanted to get as far away from Ron as possible. In the bathroom, where she took refuge, she decided to get back at him, at any cost.

Her revenge however backfired spectacularly (what was she thinking asking McLaggen to go to the party with her?). She left Slugghorn's party early and arrived in her dormitory slightly dishevelled (from being manhandled by McLaggen) but still in one piece.

The only thing that could make her feel better right now was writing to Fred and then reading his reply.

So she poured her heart out to him and after that took another shower and got ready for bed.

A bit after she had started some light reading (The truth behind the enslavement of the elves) Eugen arrived hooting excitedly. After reading Fred's note she felt a lot better.

He agreed with her that his brother was a git and promised that he would think of some unprecedented nasty prank to pull on him over the Christmas holidays. He also told her some funny anecdotes of his day at the shop and soon she was snorting with laughter.

That was something she had discovered about Fred, he was always able to make her smile. She tended to over think everything and take things too seriously, he helped her to lighten up and relax.

In only a little over a month they had reached a stage were she trusted him with many things that were going on in her life and not once had he made fun of her or not taken her seriously, he made jokes, yes but only to stop her from making mountains out of molehills.

It came as a shock to her to realize that he was far more mature then she would have given him credit for, and it made her think that maybe she judged people a little too early sometimes.

She longed to see him, she wanted to see if she saw him with different eyes now, whether he really looked like in her dream, but at the same time she dreaded it, how was she supposed to act, maybe it would be absolutely uncomfortable and embarrassing.

After all, part of why she was able to share her feelings and thoughts with him was because she didn't have to face him and tell him in person it was a lot easier to write something down than to actually say it.

But she wouldn't see him anytime soon anyway since Ron had made it clear, that she was not welcome at his house this Christmas.

Her parents however were delighted to have her to themselves for the holidays and she felt actually glad to be far away from the git (as she had started to call Ron in her head).

It became harder and harder for Hermione to see Fred as only her "pen pal". She had discovered a lot more about his personality and with that her feelings had grown for him to a tiny little crush (when Hermione was "honest" with herself and brotherly affection when she felt more like deluding herself).

She was sure, however, that he would not reciprocate her feelings; she actually wondered quite often why he wrote her as much as he did.

When Hermione arrived at her parents' house it was only a few days before Christmas and still she had no gift for Fred.

It was the only gift that was missing, since she had bought all the other gifts during the last Hogsmead weekend. Won Won of course had gone with Lav Lav, so it had been only her and Harry. They had bought a gift for Ron together, she thought she would be bigger than their little fight, well that was before the transfiguration class from hell, but now it was too late the gift was already bought.

Now she had eloquent debates in her mind whether she should get a gift for him or not and if yes then what.

Since she wasn't sure what this….thing between them was, she wanted to find something that was more personal than a box of chocolate (there she would always realize that she didn't even know what his favourite sweets were) but not so personal that it looked like she bought it for a lover, plus it was supposed to be original, creative and something he would enjoy. At this point she would go through all his notes again to find clues as to what he might enjoy and want.

Her mother, with the uncanny ability of all mothers to find out what they aren't supposed to, knew right away that it must be a boy who was plaguing Hermione's mind. It felt good to confide in her, she loved to talk to someone about him and for the first time in years they had a serious girl talk.

When her Dad came home with the Christmas tree he found his two women sitting on the couch, stuffing themselves with biscuits and giggling in a way which was very uncharacteristically for both of them.

The next day Hermione and her mother decided to do some serious shopping. And it turned out that her mother's help was invaluable for finding a gift for Fred.

She remembered that he had written something that he was interested in muggles (though not like his father, bless him) and he likes jokes and pranks (obviously), so she decided to get him some muggle joke articles.

But then she needed something else, and if it wasn't for her Mum's convincing she would never had the nerve to get that for him (maybe she was not a Gryffindor after all).

On Christmas Eve she charmed all the gifts for her friends so that they would be on their beds the next morning. (It did have its perks that she had turned 17 in September and was now allowed to use magic outside school too, while she was at her parents place she hardly used her wand, but just the thought that she could if she wanted to made her feel happy)

After that she went to watch a nativity play with her parents.

The next morning, she woke up early, excited to see the pile of presents on the foot of her bed. Mostly she got books (no real surprise there), from her parents she received a beautiful leather handbag and stunning diamond stud earrings.

Fred's gift was the last one that she opened, she was excited there were two gifts the first was a bright pink bottle that read WWW Wonder- Witch shampoo, to tame the untameable (she wasn't quite sure what to think of that) then she opened the second gift. For a second her breath got caught in her throat.

It was a hair grip in the form of a butterfly; it was gilded and had many tiny rubies on its wings. Finally she opened the card that accompanied the gifts.

_  
My dearest Hermione,_

_Since you've now complained on several occasions about the wilderness on top of your head (your words not mine) I took it upon myself to create a shampoo to fit your needs. The butterfly hair grip I chose for two reasons, first of all aren't those the perfect colours for the Gryffindor princess and second I think I remember that you mentioned once that you liked rubies._

_I hope you'll like your gifts._

_Happy Christmas,_

_Fred_

She grimaced when she read "Gryffindor princess" but she was stunned, she didn't think that he would spend that much money on her and felt that her gift was inadequate.

For a moment she wondered if she should tell him that she couldn't accept such an expensive gift from him, but then she took another look at it and decided to keep it, she loved it too much already.

Later that day her two uncles Nicholas (her mother's brother) and Matthew (her father's brother) came with their families for dinner.

Hermione enjoyed it immensely, spending time with all of them. She felt closer to her parents again, even though there where things that she would never tell them (if they knew only half of the stuff that was going on, they would surely make her leave Hogwarts and move to some remote island).

She also received many compliments on her new hair grip that she had decided to wear right away.

In the evening, after everybody had left already, she found Eugene squealing in front of her window. She opened it to let him in. Then the "Gryffindor princess" nervously opened the letter that was attached to Eugene's leg, she was a little worried about how Fred would react to her gift.

_  
My dearest Hermione,_

_Thank you so much for the muggle joke articles, they are amazing. (I already used the whoopee cushion on Ron, he sat next to Fleur, you should have seen both their faces when he sat down, hers disgusted and he turned bright red and double checked every time he sat down that night). _

_As for your voucher to go to the (let me check what it is called) ah cinema, I am so excited__.__ I've never been to a cinema to watch a fimmy (muggles always come up with such funny words). When would it be convenient for you? _

_How was your Christmas__?__ I hope better than ours. Mum made us listen to a horrible concert by Celestina Warbeck on Christmas Eve (count yourself lucky if you don't know her, I still have her number one hit 'A Cauldron full of hot strong love' in my head) _

_And today Percy came over with Scrimgeour because Scrimgeour wanted to talk to Harry. Harry was not very happy I think the ministry wants to win him over._

_After it was clear that Percy did not come to make up with the family, Mum has been crying a lot. I am so angry at that little __twit __I just want to hex him into oblivion. And it seems nothing we do can make mum feel better, I hate seeing her like this and not be able to do anything about it._

_But I don't want to bore you any longer with my stories here. So let me know when you have time for our date._

_Sweet dreams princess,_

_Fred_

Hermione was angry too with Percy and Scrimgeour. But she also felt a little proud that Fred had started to open up a tiny little bit to her.

She had learned by now that he liked to hide his true feelings behind a joke; he always tried to appear unaffected and to laugh things away. But from some of his comments she perceived that he was a lot more sensitive and caring then he let on.

Argh and he still called her princess, she hated that nickname, if there is one thing that she is not it's a princess. Of course he knew how much she hated being called that and did it just to annoy her.

But then her eyes fell on the word date, again, so it would be a date, she Hermione Granger would go on a date with Fred Weasley, a little squeal escaped her lips, she just couldn't help it, she was a teenage girl after all.

She wrote an answer telling him about her Christmas, thanking him profusely for his gift and lamenting the inadequacy of hers and set the date for the 28th of December.

It took a while that night until she had calmed down the butterflies in her stomach enough to be able to fall asleep.

*

The 27th of December dragged on and on. When finally the 28th arrived Hermione felt a combination of excitement and nervousness that made her feel slightly nauseous.

She got ready (after changing her outfit 5 times) and took the underground to meet Fred near the Leaky Cauldron. They had agreed to meet there since he didn't know his way round Muggle London very well.

He was already waiting for her when she arrived. She smiled and staggered on weak knees towards him. He looked even better than he did in her dreams. He wore jeans and a dark blue shirt (that fit him well, better than that horrid magenta coloured robe he wore at work, even though she wouldn't have minded if he had worn that) on top he wore a dark grey woollen coat not buttoned up and only the green and yellow scarf told her that this really was the normally colour loving Fred in front of her.

His hair was slightly tousled (which only enhanced his sexiness in her opinion) and he had a broad smile on his face. It took all her willpower not to faint or drool or do something equally embarrassing.

After a short slightly awkward moment, his easygoing manners made her feel completely at ease and they talked and joked along as they walked towards the cinema as if they had been best friends forever already.

There was still some time left until the movie started after they had bought the tickets, so they went to a small café nearby to have some tea.

"So I see my shampoo invention seems to have the desired results," Fred said, looking smugly at her now far less bushy, silky locks that were held together with the butterfly clip he gave her.

Hermione giggled and answered: "Yes thank you so much, you've changed the lives of all bushy haired girls." Then she suddenly became serious:" But you shouldn't have spent so much money on me, the butterfly must have cost a fortune."

"As long as you like it, it was worth every galleon I spent on it; I wanted to give you something that you would enjoy and that would remind you of me."

She blushed profusely after that declaration and tried to hide unsuccessfully behind her cup.

"Well anyway, you are invited today I won't let you pay for a single thing." Hermione mumbled into her tea. "Oh and by the way, have you played any pranks on the git yet?"

"Oh yes, George and I felt that it would be a good idea to combine the pranks with something useful, so we test our new products on him now, without asking him first of course.

The other night we gave him some of our dragon fire pastilles and he spit fire the whole night whenever he opened his mouth, almost burnt the kitchen down and Mum was not amused, but it was quite a sight."

Hermione could picture a fire spitting Ron very clearly in her head and indeed that must have been a sight to behold.

"We also sent him a dungbomb that exploded in his room," Fred continued, "they still haven't found a way to get rid of the stench and the gooey liquid that is now all over the place. And neither have George and I, I might add.

Yesterday I placed a fanged cushion on his broom, he thought it was one of Mum's cushions that she put there so he won't freeze his precious arse, the look on his face when the cushion bit his behind was priceless, I've never seen him hop off a broom and run away so fast."

The both of them had tears streaming down their faces and held their sides from laughing so much. She would have loved to see Ron running around with a biting cushion attached to his bottom.

"I, haha, feehehehel almost, huhu, sorry for hihihim," Hermione said while trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah, but the emphasis is on almost," Fred drawled secretly delighted that he was finally able to make her laugh.

"I've got one more new invention that I want to test on him."

"And what would that be?" Hermione chuckled amused.

"It's a magic alarm clock especially for those who have trouble getting up early in the morning. It looks like a tiny owl and it flies around your room and bumps into your head and its chirps get louder and louder until you finally get up. It's annoying as hell, but really effective."

"Was this inspired by Eugene by any chance?" inquired the now not so bushy haired brunette with mirth in her eyes.

Fred chuckled, "well indeed it was, and I thought it would be a good idea to test it, let's say at five o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day.

"Oh you are truly evil" Hermione said with not much sincerity in her voice.

If you asked Hermione after the cinema what the film was about, she wouldn't have a clue. She was too busy trying to snuggle as close to Fred as possible without being too obvious and she was overly aware of his smell and breathing and just him in general being right next to her.

Whenever their hands brushed accidentally (or actually not so accidentally since both of them independent from each other timed it so that they would both reach into the box of popcorn at the same time) she felt a jolt of electricity moving through her body.

The evening ended all too soon, and he being the gentleman that he is (whenever he wants to) brought her back to her parent's house. He was excited like a little child about taking the underground and she had never appreciated traveling the muggle way so much, since it meant spending more time with him.

Standing on the front porch he bowed and kissed her hand, and she gathered all her courage and kissed him on the cheek (blushing like mad of course). They agreed that it was a lovely evening and that they should see each other again.

So they set a date for the next evening, Fred would pick her up and then they would go to a nice Italian restaurant in the neighbourhood.

After a long day which Hermione spent bouncing around the house in excitement, to her parent's amusement, the doorbell rang. Hermione hurried towards the door but her father beat her to it. He was quite curious who the lad was his daughter was seeing.

After he had been properly introduced to her parents and approved by them they finally were allowed to leave.

Again they spent a wonderful evening filled with a lot of laughter. Hermione was especially delighted whenever he would laugh at one of her jokes, which happened quite a lot.

After the restaurant they went for a walk, at times they fell into a comfortable silence, both thinking about the other person next to them, marvelling at the fact that they were there together.

Back on her parent's front porch he took her hand and looked at her and said "I would love to spend New Year's Eve with you."

"My parents are having some people over, maybe I could ask if you could come too. That is…I mean I would understand if you would prefer spending New Year's Eve with your family." She mumbled awkwardly.

"No, no I would love to come, if your parents don't mind," was the quick answer.

"Okay I'll ask them and let you know then."

"Perfect," he breathed and bent down to her, for a moment she thought he would kiss her lips, but then he turned his head slightly and instead brushed her cheek lightly with his lips.

"Good night, princess" with that he disapparated.

Hermione stood frozen to the spot waiting for her heart to beat in a regular rhythm again.

*

Hermione's parents were delighted to have Fred over for New Year's Eve. And Hermione was positively surprised how well he behaved (he even took the time to actually chew his food).

After dinner they skived off to her room. He smirked at her dolls and the smirk turned into a broad grin when he saw her framed photographs.

"Oh hey is that you below all that hair?" He pointed at a picture on which a very serious looking small girl could be seen reading to her dolls.

"Hey don't be so mean." She pouted hitting him playfully on the arm.

She had come to stand next to him and they both looked at the pictures. After their laughter died down they suddenly realized how close they were. Hermione blushed and Fred started to fidget awkwardly.

"Hermione, there is something I want to tell you." Fred began, his gaze shifting around the room, without being able to look at her.

He sounded so serious that Hermione began to worry, 'now he is going to tell me, that he likes me and all but he wants to make clear that we are just friends nothing more,' the thought crossed her mind and she tried to steel herself for what was about to come.

"Let's sit down." She said and ushered him to the only chair in her room, while she sat on her bed.

"You see the thing is," he began and she thought that she had never heard him sound so insecure, "I've really started to like you." I always thought you were a little uptight and I've only seen you as my little brother's friend, but these last weeks I've seen a different side of you and I've got to get to know you better. So ahem uhm I was wondering if you wouldliketogiveusatry." That last part came out rather rushed.

Hermione sat there staring at him unable to process what he had just said, not really trusting her ears, or expecting to wake up from one of her dreams.

"Ahem, I understand if you aren't interested, I mean we can just stay friends, if you prefer," he mumbled, now clearly uncomfortable.

"No," croaked Hermione, clearing her throat she continued, "no I mean I like you a lot too, especially now that I got to know you better, and I would like to give this a try. I am just surprised you see, since I didn't expect this, I didn't think I was your type…."

She was cut of when a soft pair of lips descended down on hers, he had moved next to her during her little rant.

The kiss was very soft and sweet…and too short.

He leaned back to look at her and wait for her reaction. She was flushed and looked slightly disappointed, "please don't stop" she pleaded leaning into him.

He smirked and obeyed immediately.

Their second kiss started as soft and sweet as the first one, but it deepened soon and they started to explore each other's lips and tongue and mouth and taste. Hermione clung to him arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair. He snaked his one arm around her waist holding her close to him while the other caressed her locks.

They were so occupied with one another that they didn't even notice when it was midnight, only the loud cheers from outside brought them back to reality.

"Happy new year, princess," Fred whispered into her ear.

"Happy new year, love," she murmured.

Then their lips met once more. This was so much better than any of her dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own HP and I fear I never will

**Author's Note:** a huge thank you to my wonderful Beta Clover Bay; remember people when I said that this story will have only three chapters. Well the third one felt pretty rushed but I had no idea what to do about it, but Clover gave me just a few suggestions and my imagination started running wild. The result you will be able to read in this and the next chapter (there will be two more chapters after this one).

O.K. so read and (hopefully) enjoy

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They met as often as possible before she had to go back to Hogwarts.

She visited Fred and George in their shop, where they happily endured George's suggestive winks and his insinuating remarks and in the evening Fred would come over to her house where they faced her mother's amused and her father's slightly anxious gazes (he didn't like not being her number one any more and besides she was too young to have a boyfriend, and she would be too young until she was at least forty and the situation between him and his wife when they first started dating was completely different).

Of course he wouldn't breathe a word about all that to the happy couple; instead he subjected his wife to rather elaborated rants on the topic.

Too soon Hermione had to go back to Hogwarts. Fred was very proud of himself when Hermione left for Hogwarts with a pout and a longing look in her eyes telling him she would prefer to stay with him and that she would even let him test his new products on first years as long as he would come with her. He reclined with a heavy heart

Back at Hogwarts her relationship with Ron still did not improve. So she studied, researched who the halfblood prince might be, what a Horcrux was supposed to be, did her assignments for her classes and wrote to Fred. She was pretty busy.

For Valentine's day Dumbledore thought of a special treat this year. He decided to have a small casual party for all houses in the Great Hall, but only for 5th year students and up (people from lower classes were only allowed to join if they were invited by an older student).

Hermione didn't particularly look forward to it, after all Fred wouldn't be there, she was even thinking about skipping the whole thing and having a quiet evening devoted to studies instead.

Needless to say that Harry and Ginny were appalled when she mentioned this and convinced her to go, at least for a bit.

Harry however seemed as little enthusiastic about this party as she was, though his reason was because of Dean and Ginny. She gave him knowing looks, but by the expression on his face she concluded that he would rather bite of his tongue than talk to her about it.

She had gotten a cologne for Fred. She hoped that he would like it because she really did (and when he wore it she would profit from this gift as well) it was not that she didn't like his natural scent, quite the contrary it made her feel secure and cosy but like most girls she loved it when a boy wore a good cologne. She had also gotten a small variety of sweets for him, she decided to just get a box with many different ones, since she still didn't know what he liked best.

In the morning of February 13th, she went to the owlery to send her gift and a letter to Fred. Then she went to have breakfast all the while trying to suppress the giddy feeling inside her.

The owls arrived by the end of breakfast and indeed Eugene came with a letter for her. Excitedly she opened it:

_My dearest Hermione,_

_I am deeply ashamed and embarrassed and I hope you will be able to forgive me, but I completely forgot about Valentine's Day. George and I had so much work at the shop that it completely slipped my mind. But I will make it up to you as soon as I can I promise._

_Thank you so much for the scent (I love it) and the sweets (I've eaten half of them already)._

_And again I am very sorry._

_A thousand kisses for my princess,_

_Fred_

She had to read the letter twice, she checked it for secret messages or anything, because she thought he might prank her, but nothing. So she tried hard to be not disappointed but was not very successful. She scribbled a note to send back to him:

_Dear Fred,_

_Oh don't worry I understand that you have a lot of work. I don't care much about Valentine's Day anyway. So have a great day._

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

She sighed, she didn't want to let him know how disappointed she was (she kept telling herself, he is just a boy, that's what boys do they forget important dates, and Valentine's Day is overrated anyway and so on ) but after finishing the letter she had to admit to herself that she apparently wasn't even able to lie convincingly via mail.

It was a Thursday so the desolate Gryffindor was able to distract herself with classes. But it seemed that wherever she went she was surrounded by happy couples, even in the library, her sanctuary, but since the spot she usually occupied was in a rather secluded area, two couples thought this would be a good place for a snog.

When it was time for the party she felt completely miserable and was trying to think of an excuse not to go. With Harry that wouldn't have been such a problem and Ron was attached to Lavender and oblivious to everyone else around them but Ginny wouldn't just leave her alone to wallow in self-pity.

She even went down to the Great Hall with her to make sure she would go. Ginny stormed ahead since they were already late and the party had started a few minutes before. Hermione followed her grudgingly then halfway down the third corridor she couldn't see Ginny anymore.

"Where did she disappear to that fast," she muttered under her breath.

All of a sudden someone grabbed her hand and pulled her behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. She yelped and turned around to see her attacker and give him or her a piece of her mind and a thorough hexing.

But before she was able to open her mouth two lips descended on hers and she realized that her attacker kissed like Fred and smelled like Fred (it was his scent combined with the cologne she had gotten for him). On closer inspection her attacker also looked like Fred. She snaked her arms around his neck and kissed him back passionately.

Suddenly her brain caught up with her hormones. Wait a minute Fred.

"What are you doing here?" She yelled.

"Well it is Valentine's Day and I wanted to see my girlfriend," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But your not supposed to be here, you will be in so much trouble for breaking in," Hermione panted in between kisses.

"Worry not my dear, they won't notice that I am here," Fred said pompously.

She snorted. "Fred I'm serious I don't think you should be seen here."

"Well then let us go somewhere, where we'll have a little bit more privacy, how about the room of requirement?"

"I'm not sure if we'll make it there without being seen." Hermione replied doubtful.

"Ah my dear, I have my ways," Was his mysterious answer.

"So you waited behind the statue until I passed by?" Hermione sounded quite amused.

"Well pretty much, I was also prepared to come looking for you, I am quite good at the disillusionment charm." With that he circled his wand over his head and disappeared.

"So you didn't forget that today was Valentine's Day?" Hermione asked a little later in the room of requirement.

It had changed into a cosy little room that looked much like a smaller version of the Gryffindor common room. On the table were a variety of sweets and some bottles of butterbeer.

"No, I thought this would be a nice surprise." He flashed her a toothy grin.

"So I felt miserable the whole day for nothing?" He could see a bit of indignation in her eyes.

"Well, I thought you didn't care much for Valentine's Day anyway." Uh maybe not the best answer.

She snorted only disdainfully and turned around to open a bottle of butterbeer.

'Time to turn on my irresistible Weasley charm,' he thought to himself.

He walked up behind her and snaked his arms around her.

"Hermione, princess," he cooed into her ear, "have I told you already how stunning you look tonight?"

"No you haven't", she replied snippy.

"Well you do and I am the luckiest guy in the world to have you," he continued babbling.

"Yeah well you better remember that," she replied tartly.

"Hermione, my most generous and kind princess will you forgive me my little prank, I solemnly swear that I will cherish and worship you the way you deserve it from now on," he started kissing her neck to make his point.

"I have to think about that first," Hermione answered but it came out more like a moan since his kisses and wandering hands did nothing for her concentration.

"Don't say no to love, love," Fred mumbled in her ear, before softly sucking her earlobe.

Hermione giggled and surrendered.

After a while Fred released her and said: "Oh my dearest, you distracted me so much that I completely forgot to give you your present. Again it is a creation of mine, I hope you'll like it."

With that he produced a box wrapped in green paper with purple hearts and huge yellow bow out of his pocket. She eyed it curiously and said:

"Okay promise me first that nothing will jump at me out of that box."

"No, no dear, fear not this is not a prank invention of ours, this is a romantic little token of my love custom made for you."

Carefully she opened the box and took out a snow dome, she looked more closely at it, and saw that inside was a couple dancing in a beautiful garden while glittering snow descended down on them, after an even closer look she saw that that dancing couple was her and Fred.

"Do you like it," Fred looked a little nervous now.

Instead of an answer she smiled at him and started to kiss him senseless.

All too soon it was almost eleven (Dumbledore had changed the curfew for the day) and they had to part again.

"Don't go," Hermione whined.

"Oh princess I don't want to but we'll see each other again soon, when is the next Hogsmead weekend?"

"On March 1st, that's also the git's birthday, do you think I should get something for him?"

"Well, I don't think he deserves it. But March 1st is great, because George and I will be in Hogsmead to look for a place to open our first branch, so we can meet there. "

"But it's still so long till March 1st," Hermione continued whining

"No it's not love … bye princess, I'll miss you," he whispered while kissing her nose and cheeks.

"I'll miss you too," she tried to hug him even closer to her, determined to never let go.

With a soft smile he entangled himself then he gave her a last soft kiss and sneaked down the corridors protected under his disillusionment charm.

Hermione turned to walk to the common room, heck she missed him already.

*

Fred arrived in the apartment he shared with George still wearing a goofy smile on his face. George was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, he looked up when Fred arrived.

"Ah back from your rendezvous with the bookworm." He drawled lazily.

"Don't call her that," Fred replied indignantly.

"Oh dear brother of mine you are head over heels," George looked rather amused.

"You're just jealous because you don't have such a wonderful, amazing, intelligent and beautiful girlfriend." Fred said knowingly.

"Wow it's even worse than I thought," George joked.

"But I am serious she is special, I've got to know her better those last months and there is so much more to her that I haven't seen before. I thought she is such a goody two shoes, but I had to change my mind she told me more about what she has been through with Ron and Harry. I take my hat off to her she is brilliant and witty and caring and loyal and I have no idea why she chose me."

George could see in his brother's eyes that he cared about this girl in a way he had never cared about another girl before.

So he simply said: "I'm glad for you mate."

*

A few days before March 1st, Hermione read on the notice board that all Hogsmead weekends were cancelled. She felt like crying and wanted to hit something really bad but settled for writing a message to Fred instead.

_Dear Fred,_

_I just found out that all Hogsmead weekends are cancelled. I can't believe it, I want to see you. I miss you so bad. So what are we going to do?_

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

The answer arrived shortly after.

_My dearest Hermione,_

_I talked to George and we decided to come to the castle to visit Ron for his birthday. But if you want to spend more time with me then you could always sneak out through the secret passage on the third floor._

_We close the shop at 6 o'clock but I can ask George to take care of the shop alone with Verity in the afternoon, we could meet at 12 o'clock in front of Honeydukes (you might want to use the disillusionment charm, it is really handy)._

_Think about it._

_A thousand kisses for my princess,_

_Fred_

She fought a tough inner battle with herself, on one hand she dreaded what would happen if someone found out that she sneaked out to go to Hogsmead, but on the other hand she was desperate to spend some time with him.

After a hard inner battle her adventurous side finally won.

*

On March 1st she woke up rather early because she wanted to get some studying done before she met Fred. At around 11.30 she stood in a secluded area in the library made sure that nobody was watching her, disillusioned herself (she had practiced that spell since she had decided to go through with this plan) and left the library to go to the third floor.

From the opposite side Harry came walking down the corridor looking for her, but he missed her by mere seconds.

Everything went fine she found the statue and the passage and walked through it, she even had no problems sneaking through the cellar of Honeydukes.

Outside of the shop she could see him waiting for her with messy hair, a colourful robe and a broad grin on his face.

After finishing the incantation and becoming visible again she threw her arms around Fred's neck and he kissed her soundly.

"Not here in front of everybody," Hermione muttered blushing profusely.

Fred just laughed at her snaked his arm around her waist and asked: "OK princess where do you want to go first?"

"While were here we can go to Honeydukes right away." She replied.

"Sounds good to me."

With that they entered the sweet shop. Hermione paid close attention to the sweets he bought so next time she got a present for him she wouldn't be as clueless as last time.

"Why are you watching me so intently?" Fred asked raising one eyebrow.

"Oh I just realized that I didn't even know what your favourite sweets are and I though as your girlfriend I should know things like that." She replied meekly.

He laughed," well you could have simply asked."

She smiled: "okay so what are your favourite sweets?"

"Well my all time favourites are licorice wands, jelly slugs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, but I also like more experimental sweets that explode in your mouth or make steam come out of your ears and things like that. I am not a big fan of chocolate though. And how about you?"

"Well I actually am a big fan of chocolate in all forms. And I love those creamy chunks of nougat they have here oh and those honey-coloured toffees. I feel guilty though when eating that." Hermione went along the aisles with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Why would you feel guilty eating chocolate," Fred looked at her blankly.

"Well you know that my parents are dentists. That means they are healer for teeth," she added when she saw his uncomprehending expression, "when I was smaller they would always show me pictures of bad teeth and tell me that this is what is going to happen to my teeth if I eat to many sweets. Before I came to Hogwarts I have only ever eaten sugar free sweets."

Fred looked at her a wondrous expression on his face: "sugar free candy, where is the fun in that?"

Hermione only giggled.

They strolled through Hogsmead together and had lunch in a small restaurant a little away from the main street, they wanted to avoid the places where people might recognize her. Since it was already getting warmer they went for a long walk around Hogsmead.

When it was time to meet George he was already waiting for them looking very pale and shaky. Before they could ask what was wrong he said:

"It's Ron, he was poisoned."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** HP is not mine

**Author's Note:** Again a big thank you to my Beta Clover Bay, this chapter exists only because of you ;)

ok so read and (hopefully) enjoy, people!

* * *

Fred and George rushed to the castle, Hermione disillusioned herself again and snuck back through the secret passage. She arrived at the hospital wing a few minutes before the twins.

"Hermione where have you been we have been looking for you," Harry asked worriedly.

""I've been … ahem ... busy Hermione mumbled; then, remembering Ron, she asked: "how did this happen, how is he?"

Luckily Harry went into a detailed account of what had happened this morning and forgot about her disappearance.

Shortly after the twins arrived, they were allowed to go in to see Ron. Hermione stayed away from Fred, she hadn't told her friends about them yet after all.

While they stood around his bed speculating about who might be behind this attack and who the actual target was, Ron started mumbling in his sleep and suddenly he croaked: "Er-my-nee" before he started snoring again.

Everybody had gone quiet, she stole a shy glance at Fred who looked at her curiously; blushing she looked back at Ron.

Hermione left with Harry and Hagrid after Arthur and Molly arrived, she didn't have a chance that evening to see Fred again. She felt a little bad for not being able to be at Fred's side at the moment, she recalled the way he had looked at his brother, all mischief was gone from his eyes and replaced by worry. But then she told herself that it might be better for the moment if their relationship stayed a secret, it didn't make her feel much better though.

Then her thoughts went back to Ron. He had been poisoned, she couldn't believe it and she didn't want to think of what would have happened if Harry hadn't thought of the Bezoar (she send a silent thank you to the Halfblood Prince whoever he or she might be).

All her feelings of frustration and anger with him were suddenly replaced by worry and guilt, why did she let someone like Lavender and some foolish jealousy almost ruin her friendship with him?

Allowedly she looked at the last months and his behaviour in particular with much softer and more forgiving feelings than before but the thought that she almost lost him with this grudge between them was almost too much to bear. Finally she admitted that she missed his friendship and decided to knock some sense into Ron's thick scull as soon as he was conscious again.

She didn't have to do anything to make up with Ron once he woke up. It felt as if they never had fought in the first place.

But, during his time in the hospital wing she got the nagging suspicion that he liked her as more than just a friend. Especially since his relationship with Lavender seemed to not be going too well and he started to look for a way to dump her or, better yet, get dumped by her.

She felt bad now that she didn't have the chance before to tell him about her relationship with Fred, she hadn't told Harry or Ginny either, and she didn't want to risk another fight when he learned that she was dating his brother (she still had the scene he caused at the Yule Ball clearly in her mind) but she also felt that this would be unfair to Fred.

She felt torn but decided to keep the peace and so kept her mouth shut for now.

After Ron was released from the hospital wing, their friendship went back to normal and luckily he didn't do anything to show her that he felt more than friendship for her.

And Hermione thought that if she ignored the glances he would give her or whenever he would touch her and let his hand rest just a moment too long on her shoulder or arm that it would all just go away.

She kept postponing talking about her dilemma with Fred, as well, she wasn't quite sure how to address the topic without making him feel bad.

His letters had been somewhat cooler and more distant since Ron's birthday and from some of his remarks she deduced that he was jealous of Ron (which she found ridiculous since she had explained him several times now that she only felt brotherly affection for Ron).

In the last letter he had finally asked her why she wouldn't tell anyone about their relationship and if she was ashamed of him. This was her cue to finally approach the topic, she hated to do this by mail but there was no other option at the moment.

It took her several attempts to write that letter, in the end she gave up on trying to make up believable and reasonable excuses as to why they should keep their relationship a secret, so she decided to stick to the truth.

_Dear Fred,_

_There is a somehow delicate topic that I can't postpone talking to you about anymore. I am not quite sure how to put this and please don't get me wrong but I think we should keep our relationship a secret for now._

_The thing is I think that Ron might perhaps have feelings for me. He hasn't said anything yet, but there are moments when it shows. _

_You know that we haven't been on speaking terms for quite a while and just now got back to normal and I don't want to jeopardize that again.( And I shudder when I remember the scene he caused at the Yule ball.)_

_I hope you understand because I don't want you to get the impression that I don't care for you, because I do very much so._

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

Hermione felt very anxious after she had sent that letter. How would he react? Would he understand that this was for the best, for now at least?

She waited for a reply but none came. She had sent that letter Tuesday in the afternoon, but there was no reply for her in the evening, or the next morning. She grew more and more worried with each hour that past without a word from him.

She tried unsuccessfully to distract herself by studying and she tried equally unsuccessful to act normal around their friends and they were getting suspicious already.

Finally very late on Thursday night Eugene came buzzing happily into her dormitory. With shaking hands she loosened the letter that was attached to his leg. She closed the curtains around her bed took a deep breath and opened it.

_Hermione,_

_I am not sure what to think about that. I admit that I am quite upset and disappointed. That's also the reason why I took so long to reply I didn't want to write anything I might regret later._

_I am pretty sure that Ron has feelings for you, heck everybody knows that. And I actually was a little reluctant at first to admit my growing feelings for you because I felt like I was steeling you away from my brother. But then I thought he had his chance and didn't take it and if she has feelings for me instead of him then why should not I be the one who gets the girl._

_So yes he might get upset, sad or angry when you tell him that you are with me, but he will get over it and move on. Don't you think it would be unfair to lead him on and then tell him months later, oh by the way I am with your brother, I think he would be a lot more hurt then._

_Also I don't want to have to hide my feelings for you and steel kisses in the middle of the night in abandoned places. I want to let everybody know that I am with the most amazing witch, I want to act like your boyfriend in front of __our__ friends and my family and not pretend to be nothing more then the older brother of one of your best friends._

_You say you care about me, but by wanting to keep our relationship a secret you show that you neither care about me nor Ron, you only care about yourself. Since at the moment this seems to be the easy way out, you wouldn't have to upset Ron or any other friends, but believe me in the end it would make everything worse. _

_That is if you want to try to make this relationship work. If this is just a fling for you and you know already that you are going to dump me as soon as you find someone else please tell me and we end it right now. Cause I can't guarantee that we will stay together for a lifetime but I want to give my all in this relationship for however long it might last. I have feelings for you Hermione that I've never had for anyone before._

_Fred_

The ink on the letter was smeared by the time she finished reading because she was crying so hard. She could tell that he was really hurt and upset. And she had to admit that he was right, she had acted like a coward. Before she hadn't been sure how deep his feelings for her went but now that she knew she couldn't hold back any longer. She made her decision then and there.

_Dear Fred,_

_I know you're right, and I acted like a selfish coward. I will tell them all about us tomorrow. I rather have Ron angry and not talking to me than lose you. And I want to give my all too and make this relationship work._

_Please forgive me._

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

After she had sent Eugene on his way, she tried to get at least a little bit of sleep.

The next morning she sat slightly dazed in the Great Hall to have breakfast, she hadn't slept well the last few nights and it began to take its toll. Suddenly a brown fluffy ball hit her head and chirped quite loudly in her ear.

"Eugene you impossible..thing…owl…oh well whatever" she groaned.

However when she realized that Eugene meant a letter from Fred she was suddenly wide awake and sat bolt upright on the bench.

_My dearest Hermione,_

_Of course I'll forgive you, we all make mistakes and poor decisions from time to time._

_I am glad that you'll tell them__ today__, so I can show off with you next time we're all together.._

_Got to hurry now and open the shop._

_Lots of love and kisses for my princess,_

_Fred_

She let out a breath and a broad smile crept on her face. Her friends around her looked at her curiously.

"Good news, eh" Ginny said cheekily.

Hermione mumbled something unintelligible and excused herself to go to her first class this morning.

Later that same day in the Gryffindor common room Hermione fidgeted and wondered how to address the topic of her and Fred. Finally she just decided to get it over with and asked Ron, Harry and Ginny to a small secluded area where they all got comfortable.

"So I have to tell you something." She mumbled looking very uncomfortable.

"Did something happen? is everything alright?" Harry asked alarmed.

"No, yes everything is fine there is just something that I think I should tell you all." She stopped there and didn't say anything for a while.

Finally Ginny asked: "Well has this by any chance anything to do with that letter that you got this morning from your mysterious pen pal?"

"Yes, kind of, you see my pen pal is Fred." She hold her breath for the onslaught that was sure to come.

"Fred who?" Ron asked dumbly

"Ahem Fred Weasley, your brother you might know him actually," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"So you and Fred are pen pals?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Well yeah, you see we are actually a bit more than just pen pals," She mumbled.

"You are dating Fred, my brother Fred as in Fred and George?" Ginny asked with an excited look on her face.

"Yeah we are actually kind of together, for quite a while already, so I thought I should tell you guys." Hermione replied.

Ginny looked as if she might burst of excitement any moment. Then Ron started laughing all of a sudden. They all looked at him questioningly.

"Haha, you and Fred, that's just too funny, you almost got me there Hermione, hahaha good joke, as if that would ever happen."

After he had calmed down somewhat, Hermione stated slightly irritated:

"I'm not joking Ronald, Fred and I are together."

He looked at her with big eyes: "But you two are so different and you hate the twins."

"I've never hated them, I might not have approved of some of their methods, but that doesn't mean that I had anything against them." Her tone was so serious that Ron was finally convinced that she said the truth.

He opened his mouth to no doubt say something rather insulting, when Harry cut in quickly by asking:

"So how did that happen?"

She told them a highly edited version of the events and watched Ron's face getting redder and redder by the second. All of a sudden she imagined him breathing fire and had to suppress the urge to laugh.

After she finished Ron started a verbal onslaught about how they were too different, Fred was too old and how this could not end well and she should mark his words.

He was silenced however by Harry who told him to shut up and Ginny who glared at him with her wand raised threateningly in the air.

They had all gotten up from their seats during Ron's rant and Harry now stepped closer to her and said in a low voice.

"I'm happy for you and Fred, and don't worry about Ron I'll try and talk to him."

Ginny then dragged her along to the girls' dormitories, they sat on Hermione's bed and Ginny yanked the curtains close and demanded:

"OK and now I want a complete account of what happened."

*

Hermione had to give Ron credit he tried hard not to show how upset he was about the news that she and Fred were a couple. The first few days he avoided her as much as possible and his answers were rather snappy but he threw himself into Quidditch and practiced as often as possible that seemed to help him get over it. Maybe it also helped that he started seeing Lisa Turpin.

While things went well with Ron, this time it was Harry who was giving her grief. Instead of focusing to get the memory from Slughorn he came up with even more absurd theories about Malfoy and wasted his time away in front of the room of requirement trying to get in.

All the time Fred's birthday was coming closer and she thought hard about what to give him, his presents so far had always been thoughtful and creative and simply lovely and she didn't want to stand back.

The idea hit her while she was finishing her essay for Professor Snape. It would be a lot of work but he would definitely be surprised and she could get back at him for his Valentine's prank.

Since Fred's birthday was only two weeks away and it would be a lot of work, she started to make a schedule for herself and set to work right away.

Early in the morning on April 1st Hermione sent a school owl with a big package on its way.

Fred was awoken on his birthday by a tapping on his window. He cracked one eye open and once his mind told him "birthday mail" he jumped excitedly out of his bed to open the window.

He got the package that was attached to the bird's leg and ripped it open impatiently.

On top was a card that had a big pink heart with golden glitter on it that read:

_Happy Birthday my sweet __Ginger Snap _

Fred cracked a smile, what a cheeky witch, must be her revenge for him calling her princess.

He opened the card and grimaced when it started playing a jazzy version of "Happy Birthday" sung by no one else than the great Celestina Warbeck (he wondered for a moment where she had gotten that from but then again this was Hermione so he shouldn't be surprised) and continued reading:

_My beloved Fred,_

_I wish you all the best for your birthday (and George too) and I am sending you all my love. I hope you'll have a wonderful day I only wish I could be with you._

_I hope you like my birthday card since I created it myself. In the package is only the first part of your present I will send you your real present later, so be patient my love._

_A million kisses and hugs,_

_Your princess_

By now Fred was smiling benevolently at her attempt at a prank. He opened the box that was in the package and saw an assortment of his favourite sweets. It was still early but he couldn't resist and started eating heartily. Shortly afterwards half the box was empty and he started to feel slightly sick, maybe it was not such a good idea to have sweets before breakfast.

He heard his brother rummaging outside and decided to join him. He walked out of his room a big grin on his face and said:

"A very happy birthday, Forge," spreading his arms in a dramatic gesture.

Gred turned around and started, "Hap..," he stared at Forge for a moment before he started laughing.

Fred stared at his brother slightly bewildered, while George was hitting his thighs, tears running down his cheeks and howling with laughter.

"Whahat hahappened tohoo youu, brotheheher," he managed to get out between howls of laughter.

"Ahem, I don't know what you're talking about, are you alright?" Fred was totally lost now, he had no idea what had gotten into George.

"Maybe you should look into a mirror," George said, holding his sides that had started to hurt from laughing so hard.

Fred walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. For a second he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. His hair was magenta and stood straight up into the air as if he had been hit by lightning, he sported a huge moustache (though how he missed to notice that was beyond him), his teeth were purple, he had big green spots all over his face and neck and they seemed to keep spreading all over his body, when he got a closer look at his fingernails he saw that they were bright pink.

For a moment he was absolutely stunned, he hadn't thought she had it in her then a proud smile spread over his face. Never again would he underestimate the force of nature called Hermione Granger.

He pranced out of the bathroom and told his brother:

"See I've told you my girlfriend is brilliant."

During her lunch break Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table grinning like a Cheshire cat while reading a letter:

_My dearest Princess,_

_You never __cease__ to amaze me. I am so proud of you those prank sweets were brilliant. I have to say the better I get to know you the stronger my feelings get for you. I wish I could snog you senseless right now._

_So where is the second part of my present? Don't make me wait too long._

_I'm sending you all my love, princess,_

_Fred_

After her last class was finished, Hermione sent the second part of Fred's gift. She had gotten him a wizard camera because he had mentioned that he should get one to take pictures when the whole family got together, while she spent Christmas with Harry and the Weasleys during her 5th year, but he had never bought one so far.

She supposed that it would be a good idea to take as many pictures of family and friends as possible, or as long as they were alive (as a quiet pessimistic voice said in her head) with this war going on no one could tell who was going to make it and this way they would never forget the faces of their loved ones.

Fred jumped up and down in excitement when the owl from Hogwarts arrived. He tore the paper away and was stunned when he held the camera in his hands. 'She remembered,' he thought, 'she remembered that I wanted to get one'.

But there was more in the package, there were also some pictures.

There was a picture of Hermione on which she was blowing kisses and waving and smiling into the camera.

On the next picture there where Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry they were standing in the Gryffindor common room, hugging each other and laughing into the camera.

Another picture showed Harry, Ginny and Ron racing on their brooms.

The last picture showed Hermione again, she sat in an armchair in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, reading, she was playing with her hair and softly biting her lower lip then she realized that someone was taking a picture of her and smiled softly into the camera.

Fred kept staring at the pictures with tears in his eyes. He loved those pictures, she was beautiful and he couldn't wait to take his own pictures.

In the parcel was also a letter.

_Dear Fred,_

_I hope that you like my gift for you. You wanted to get a camera, didn't you? (I hope you haven't gotten one by now and never mentioned it to me)_

_We took the liberty to test the camera, I hope you like the pictures. I don't like myself much on the pictures but Ginny insisted that they were fine._

_Again Happy Birthday (to George too). I miss you._

_Yours,_

_Hermione_

"Hey George look here!"

"Why?"

*click*


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** HP belongs to J.K. Rowling and not me, unfortunately

**Author's Note:** Again a big thank you to my wonderful Beta Clover Bay

This is the last chapter so read and enjoy!

* * *

As the school year came to an end, Hermione started to get more and more anxious, something just wasn't right.

Malfoy was up to something - she couldn't deny that; she didn't think, however, that he was particularly dangerous.

But why was Dumbledore's hand still not healed? She knew there were curses that couldn't be reversed but they all lead to death in the end, so she refused to believe it was something like that.

She still hadn't found out much about Horcruxes; and why was Snape telling Dumbledore that he took too much for granted and that maybe he didn't want to do it anymore?

What did he not want to do anymore, didn't he want to be a spy anymore, but where would they get their information from then, he wouldn't just quit like that, would he?

There where too many questions that she had no answers too and that scared her. She didn't know what to do next, couldn't plan ahead.

She tried to keep her fears at bay by distracting herself with studying. She read every book that sounded halfway helpful to try and stuff as much information as possible into her head that might one day be useful.

When Dumbledore died, she felt completely desperate. She almost felt like giving up all hope how could they possibly succeed now that the only wizard Voldemort has ever feared was dead?

She cursed him under her breath when she sobbed at Fred's shoulder during the funeral. How could he leave them so unprepared, how could he leave them at all, how could he leave the three of them, they were barely adults, with such an impossible task.

But she couldn't allow those fears to overwhelm her. Her family, Fred, her friends all of them gave her reason to fight and to at least try no matter how slim their chances at success were.

It also helped her that they now had a plan more or less so she started preparing for their Horcrux hunt. She gathered all the things together in her small beaded bag (which she had enchanted with a handy spell to be by far bigger from the inside than the outside) that she thought they would need, like potions, a tent and sleeping bags, clothes, books, extendable ears and a lot more and started to keep that bag on her at all times.

The hardest thing to do was changing her parents' memories. Her heart broke when she watched Wendell and Monica Wilkins leave for Australia without even remembering that they had a daughter. But it was necessary for their safety and that was all that mattered.

At the Burrow, Mrs Weasley kept them busy with wedding preparations. She loved that woman but was extremely annoyed by her tactics to keep her, Ron and Harry apart.

Nevertheless Ron and her had come up with the story of Ron's disease and the Ghoul that should take his place, to keep anyone from asking questions and his family safe. The twins had also promised to help make the Ghoul look a bit more like Ron (even though they claimed that Ron and the Ghoul looked like identical twins already, needless to say that Ron was not amused.)

Fred was not happy either when he heard that they would leave on a secret mission. He felt a tiny pang of jealousy even though he told himself it was unfounded but most of all he was scared for her and her safety and he wanted to be there and protect her from all evil. After all she had gotten in so many dangerous situations it was only a matter of time till her luck would run out.

He tried to talk her out of it. But she wouldn't listen to his pleadings for her to stay or when he asked to come with them. She just looked at him with her big brown eyes and asked him to understand that they had to do this, and only them.

The night before the wedding was when Hermione told him that she wanted to spend the night with him. Since the Burrow was full of people they secretly went to Fred and George's apartment since George was also staying at the Burrow.

They started kissing each other as they had done several times before already, but soon they moved on to discover every part of each other's bodies. Their first time was an exciting new sensation for Hermione, at little painful at first, but Fred was gentle and soon she was able to enjoy herself too.

It was over a little too soon for her liking but they snuggled close afterwards and kept caressing and kissing each other and tried again a bit later and with each time Hermione grew more confident and passionate and was able to enjoy herself more and more. She felt so close and connected to Fred and just loved this new intimacy they shared now and finally she had lost the last remaining feelings of shyness around him.

After their lovemaking they lay in each others arms feeling content for the moment. Both knew that this might very well be their first and last night together since Ron, Harry and Hermione would leave after the wedding. There was so much they wanted to say to each other but didn't know how.

"I'm scared," Hermione finally admitted, "I have no idea how we will finish the task Dumbledore gave us."

"You'll figure something out, Dumbledore wouldn't have given you the task if he didn't think that you would be successful," Fred tried to soothe her even though he didn't feel confident at all.

"But I am also scared for you and our friends and the people from the order, many died already and this was only the beginning. I can't imagine my life without you anymore, please promise me that you won't die," Hermione pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

"I can't promise you that, love, it is the risk we all take for fighting in what we believe in. I am scared too of losing you or anyone from my family and friends." Fred answered calmly.

They clung to each other, looking for comfort in each others arms and desperately trying to imprint the look and feel and taste of their lover forever on their memory.

Early in the morning they crept back before every one else was awake. The wedding was beautiful, Fred and Hermione danced together and stole kisses from each other as often as possible, until Scrimgeour's patronus arrived. In the ensuing chaos Hermione was barely able to grab Ron and Harry and apparate away. She had to leave Fred behind without a goodbye and without knowing what was going to happen to him.

The months moving from place to place, looking for the pieces of Voldemorts soul passed by in a blur for Hermione. She didn't know how they managed to survive they had more narrow escapes than she cared to remember.

And then came that fateful night when she was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. She had never felt such pain and she had been so close to giving in, she just wanted that pain to end.

Finally it did end and when she woke up she looked into Fred's hazel eyes. For a moment she wondered whether she was dead or dreaming but he was real and then they told her about their escape; she cried hard for Dobby, the brave little house-elf, who had been loyal to Harry till the end.

She had nightmares after that, she saw Lestrange's face whenever she closed her eyes, a face distorted by hate and eyes blazing with madness. If it wasn't Lestrange she felt Greyback's dirty hands on her waist and his foul breath on her neck and woke up screaming and sweating.

In those moments she was thankful that Fred was by her side to soothe her, he held her in his arms and whispered sweet nothingness into her ear until she felt safe and fell asleep again.

Fred always sneaked into her and Ginny's room after everybody else went to bed and left before the others woke up. Ginny knew but kept quiet and if the others knew they never said anything about it.

Fred didn't want to let her leave again. He pleaded to let him go with them and threatened to kidnap her and lock her away but in the end he had to give in.

The next time they saw each other was in the battle at Hogwarts. Hermione had no idea what she was doing. She was throwing jinxes and hexes at the Death Eaters around her only reacting on instinct, fuelled by the adrenaline running through her body.

After Harry defeated Voldemort it took her a few moments to realise what had just happened, but then she felt a heavy weight being lifted from her shoulders.

That was until she heard Molly's bloodcurdling cry "Fred". She rushed over to her and when she saw Fred's lifeless body the world around her started to spin and she sunk down next to Molly and George. He had several bruises and cuts but apart from that he looked as if he was only sleeping with a small smile on his face.

She sobbed and cried and started shaking him in a desperate attempt to wake him up.

"Don't leave me Fred. Don't do this to me. I love you." She cried over and over again, she struggled against those arms that tried to pull her away she couldn't leave his side she had to be there when he woke up. But those arms were stronger than her and so she finally gave in.

By that time the healers from St Mungos had already arrived and started to treat the injured. One of them suddenly cried, "I need help over here this one is still alive, but seriously injured"

She looked up, was it possible? Yes the healer was leaning over Fred and running his wand over his body murmuring incantations. She felt hope flare up inside her, she knew he wouldn't leave her like this.

"He is alive, if only barely. We'll see what we can do for him. But don't get your hopes up, he is very weak." A healer said to his parents.

Hermione didn't leave his side in the hospital waiting for him to wake up, most of the time Molly kept her company. It has been three days now, the cuts and bruises were magically healed but he still looked pale.

It was on the fifth day when he finally woke up. Hermione had fallen asleep crouching in her chair, her head next to his shoulder her hand covering his. She woke up when she felt someone stroking her head. She looked up into Fred's warm eyes a weak smile on his face.

"Fred" she cried, "I thought I've lost you." She started to place kisses all over his face and touched and caressed him to make sure he was really alive.

"You won't get rid of me that easily," he chuckled softly, still weak from his injuries.

"I love you, Fred. I love you so much."

"I love you too, princess."

*

**Epilogue**

"Hermione Granger will you marry me?" asked a slightly nervous Fred Weasley 8 years later.

She looked down into his eyes they usually were full of mischief but right now she saw mostly anxiety in them. He was down on his knee, holding one of her hands in his hand and in the other a small box with a diamond ring.

"Of course I will marry you Fred Weasley" laughing she threw her arms around his neck with the result that he lost his balance and they both fell on the floor.

"Did you actually doubt that I would say yes or why where you so nervous?" She asked teasingly.

"Oh well you know it's a big step, after all you will have to put up with me for the rest of your live." He smirked smugly.

"Well I've put up with you for the last eight years, and I still can't get enough of you" Hermione purred, batting her eyelashes seductively.

A lot had happened those past eight years.

Fred and Hermione had gone to Australia as soon as the war was over to try and find Wendell and Monica Wilkins to restore their memory. Her parents had been shocked, confused and disappointed at first but came around in time, after all they didn't want to lose their only daughter a second time.

Then Hermione had gone back to Hogwarts to complete her education, after that she had studied magical law to be able to change some of the social injustice from which Muggelborns and many magical creatures still had to suffer even after Voldemort's death.

Her first job was in the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She was able to improve the lives of the house-elves (a matter that had always been near to her heart, after she first had learned about their situation) and also other oppressed magical creatures.

She couldn't completely free the house-elves there was too much resistance from both the wizards and the house-elves themselves, but she hoped that future generations of house-elves would be able to live in liberty.

At first everybody around her had thought she had lost her mind and laughed at her, but they soon learned to never underestimate the small but determined witch.

Fred and George were so successful with their shop that they were quickly able to expand and now they had several branches in all major wizard communities in England

Meanwhile the Weasley Clan had grown exponentially.

Bill and Fleur had three beautiful children Victoire, Dominique and Louis.

Charlie was married to his Dragons (much to his mother's chagrin) but he was happy that way.

The next to get married (to everybody's surprise) was Percy. Audrey was an American witch who had met Percy when she was on a business trip in England and they had to work together, she was so enamoured with him that her 3 week stay turned into a lifetime. They had a daughter Molly and Audrey was expecting again.

George had to woo Angelina for 8 months before she would finally go on a date with him. She didn't regret her decision and now they were married for 3 and a half years and expecting their first child.

Susan Bones had conquered Ron's heart (or better his stomach) after he had tasted her formidable cooking. They had married 3 years ago and were blessed with two children, little Gerald who was two and Hugh who was only a few months old, kept their parents on the go.

Harry and Ron had become Aurors immediately after the war. They were full of ideas and critique on how things were handled in the department but it took a while until the long-time resident aurors accepted advice from the two greenhorns.

Ginny became a professional Quidditch player after Hogwarts and was sought-after by many men (and quite a lot of women also) she even had been voted "sexiest female quidditch player" in a wizard's magazine. But her heart belonged only to one and that was Harry.

They had married a year ago and soon after that Ginny got pregnant rather unexpectedly. And so Hermione was now the proud godmother of a lively little boy called James Sirius.

Her career had always been very important to Hermione, she loved her job and she was ambitious and determined to make a change and put an end to pureblood privileges. But now she felt that she maybe was ready to slowly step by step settle down and start having a family on her own with Fred. Why shouldn't she be able to have both a great career and a wonderful family.

Fred had always understood how important first her studies and later her job for Hermione was (that was on of the things he loved about her, the spark in her eyes and her determined expression when she took on a hopeless case to make sure the world became a little more just), that was why he had waited so long before asking the question even though he had known back then in the hospital when he woke up after the battle that this was the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

And now he felt that they both were ready to move to the next step. She had received already some promotions and gained a lot of respect at work. And he felt that he had matured enough to take on the responsibilities of a husband and father (well in the near future at least)

They married in spring with their family and close friends and over the next few years they had three children together.

Their first born was Perdita a bushy haired red head who rivalled her mother's thirst for knowledge. Later she should follow in her mother food-steps and finally free the house-elves completely from their enslavement.

Two years later followed the twins Marcus and Eric, they took after their father and uncle always full of mischief which made their father proud and brought their mother to the verge of despair. After Hogwarts they worked at the joke shop with their father and uncle and took over once they decided it was time to retire.

Of course they also fought and experience rough times like every family does. Hermione had to accept more than one defeat before she finally was able to abolish pro-pureblood laws. And she and Fred would often fight about how to deal with the twins conduct. They often argued about other things as well since their personalities were quite different, but after they had calmed down they always remembered what it was that had made them fall for each other in the first place.

Together and with the help of their large family and friends they stuck through everything.

They worried together when the children were sick, they comforted them when they were sad, they scolded them for their pranks (well Hermione did), they supported their ambitions and simply loved them. Proudly they watched their children grow and start their own families.

They travelled to exotic places. They enjoyed good music, food and wine together. Sometimes they even pulled a spectacular prank together. They saved several half and full kneazles and a parrot from a lonely live in an animal shelter. They made mistakes and learned from them. And they grew old together and their love for each other had grown with them.

It was on a day in late autumn Fred had been working on his special magical dragon firecrackers for his grandsons when he fell asleep over his work, his typical mischievous smile still etched onto his face, and didn't wake up anymore.

Hermione was devastated, the love of her life was dead and surrounded by her friends and family she felt for the first time after a long, long time completely and utterly alone and lost.

She was thankful for the 112 years she had spent with him, but she never fully recovered from the loss.

The sun was shining brightly and melted the last remains of snow on a beautiful day in the beginning of March the following year, when Perdita found her mother sitting in her favourite armchair next to the window, her heart had stopped beating but a peaceful smile could still be seen on her face.

* * *

**Another Author's Note:** This was my first chaptered fic and it was a great experience, the characters really grow on you (I couldn't kill Fred off after the final battle, I had considered it, but I just couldn't). I hope you guys had as much fun reading as I had writing it.

Thank you to everyone who read this story and a huge thank you to those who wrote a review, I loved all of them you guys are great!


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